Posts aboutTravel

The arrest of French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, head of one of the largest companies operating in Africa, Bolloré Logistics, is unlikely to hurt the operations of the company recently valued at EUR12.9bn ($15.4bn). Insufficient logistical infrastructure has long held back economic growth for many countries situated on the world’s poorest continent. The French company has been important to developing critical infrastructure that has been driving growth of late. Odds are investigations in France will not significantly damage the company in Africa. Vincent Bolloré has already gained vocal support from Guinean… Read more

The number of UK travelers abroad has been growing strongly in recent years, above 3% year-on-year since 2014. The steadily growing number of tourists abroad in the last two years seems even more remarkable given the fact that the value of the British Pound, which is a determinant of the cost of a holiday abroad, has fallen dramatically in that period. However, there is a new trend hidden behind this paradox; package holidays are not the main option for UK tourists abroad who now seek greater value on the tailored… Read more

In the early hours of Monday October 2, 2017, KPMG announced that it had entered the office of Monarch Airlines and the company had officially entered administration. In the following hours the Civil Aviation Authority chartered 30 planes from across Europe to repatriate some 110,000 British citizens and customers who were then stranded abroad with no return flights. Cancellations of every flight from October 2 and onwards have affected some 300,000 bookings and likely close to a million individuals, and Monarch’s departure from the short-haul flight market will almost certainly… Read more

The merger between Siemens and Alstom will create a company able to compete against the largest train companies in the world. Previous talks between Siemens and Canada based Bombardier failed but showed the mood in the market was towards consolidation. A merger between two leading European companies is necessary if Europe is to remain relevant. The Chinese CRRC is armed with massive resources and is pressing ahead with highly advanced technology. The importance of the ability of Europe to compete was underlined by the decision of the French government sold… Read more

Turkey, and Istanbul in particular, has seen a strong rise in the number of passengers using air travel in recent years. This has been most evident in the case of Ataturk Airport which as the hub of the country’s national airline company Turkish Airlines, has seen its capacity limit pushed to breaking point. With the 2016 terrorist attack at the airport also showing its security vulnerabilities, the city authorities as well as the national government were therefore very keen on building a new airport which could deal with the strong… Read more

Alitalia has for many years now been a company incurring consecutive losses year after year. Historically the Italian government has stepped in during times of extreme financial difficulties to bail out the country’s flag carrier. However in 2014 it agreed to sell a 49% stake in the company to UAE based Etihad Airways, which subsequently invested significant resources into Alitalia in order to turn it into a profit making company. Disappointing results nevertheless have continued and Etihad’s attempts to get the company to reduce costs by lowering wages and reducing… Read more

After decades of sanctions, the US government under Obama announced in early 2016 that it was lifting sanctions on Iran, due to the latter’s compliance with the IAEA over its nuclear programme. One of the strongest beneficiaries of this removal of US led western sanctions on Iran seems to be the Iranian aviation industry, which in recent months has concluded billion dollar deals with major aircraft producers such as Boeing and Airbus, for the purchase of hundreds of planes. The deal with Boeing alone is said to go as far… Read more

UK holiday companies are renowned for raising prices in school holiday periods. Significantly raising prices during these times allows prices to remain low for the rest of the year. As such, while certain consumers bear the brunt of this with prices rising by as much as 115%, others can reap the benefits. The travel industry in the UK is intensely competitive. The traditional model of a high-street operator selling holidays face-to-face at a heavily marked up price is no longer feasible. The surge of online travel companies offering package holidays… Read more